O’Donoghue christened NJAC Rookie of the Year; headlines 23 All-NJAC picks

PITMAN, N.J. – Rookie celebrity Rowan O’Donoghue of the Twentieth-ranked Salisbury University ladies’s swimming staff was formally christened because the top newcomer to the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) on Tuesday, successful NJAC Rookie of the Year to headline a record-setting 23 All-NJAC picks for the Sea Gulls.
 
O’Donoghue (Fr. – Newark, Del.) turned the primary Sea Gull swimmer – girl or man – to earn prime rookie honors in any convention after incomes a whopping seven All-NJAC honors, hitting six NCAA B-cuts, and securing two All-America nods in her first season between the collegiate lanes. Her debut reached an apex earlier this month on the NCAA Championships when she earned Second-Team All-American standing in each the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.
 
Before making her title on the nationwide stage, O’Donoghue established herself as a drive to be reckoned with on the NJAC Championships in February, successful gold medals in all three of her solo occasions (100 free, 200 free, 500 free) and anchoring two relays (400 free relay, 800 free relay), in addition to a pair of silver medals on two extra relay groups (200 free relay, 400 medley relay). O’Donoghue’s seven medals broke the Sea Gull ladies’s single-conference meet file of six established simply final season by Sydney McCallie.
 
O’Donoghue alone captured seven of Salisbury’s program-record 38 All-NJAC placements, as determined by NJAC Championship finishes, with 18 SU swimmers taking particular person honors and all 5 of the Sea Gulls’ four-member relay groups incomes league recognition.
 
Sitting simply behind Wood with three particular person All-NJAC honors was Addi Wood, who earned one every of First-Team, Second-Team, and Honorable Mention nods by taking gold within the 1650 free, silver within the 500 free, and bronze within the 400 particular person medley. Wood (Jr. – Virginia Beach, Va.) used her 1650 free championship as a springboard to better issues at nationals, changing into a First-Team All-American and NCAA runner-up within the occasion.
 
Maddie Powell and Olivia Polucha additionally earned two particular person All-NJAC placements, together with one First-Team choice apiece. Powell (Jr. – Fairfax, Va.) gained a gold medal within the 200 breaststroke and the 100 breast, whereas Polucha (Jr. – Odenton, Md.) took the title within the 200 butterfly and bronze within the 100 fly.
 
Individual second-team honorees included Lily Griffin, Sadie Hebert, and Jenna Krawlzik. Griffin (Jr. – Taneytown, Md.) gained a pair of silver medals within the 100 fly and 200 fly, ending behind teammate Polucha within the latter. Hebert (Jr. – Damascus, Md.) took dwelling a silver within the 400 IM and a bronze within the 500 free, the latter of which accomplished a Sea Gull sweep of the occasion’s podium (O’Donoghue, Wood). Krawlzik (So. – West Lawn, Pa.) pushed Wood to the end within the 1650 free, inserting second.
 
Alexa Hilty, Isabelle Salvatore, and Libby Miyashita every earned one All-NJAC honorable point out by inserting third of their respective races. Hilty (Sr. – York, Pa.) earned the bronze within the 200 free, whereas Salvatore (Fr. – Wilmington, Del.) and Miyashita (Fr. – Glen Allen, Va.) took bronze within the 100 backstroke and 200 fly, respectively.
 
Salisbury was additionally certainly one of two NJAC faculties to garner all-conference laurels in all 5 relay occasions, together with three First-Team and two Second-Team nods. Only Kean (two gold, two silver, one bronze) additionally positioned quartets on the rostrum in any case 5 races.
 
SU noticed its quartets seize the gold within the 400 free relay (Rachel Rickabaugh, Griffin, Hilty, O’Donoghue), 800 free relay (Mackenzie Gula, Polucha, Krawlzik, O’Donoghue), and 200 medley relay (Salvatore, Gula, Griffin, Kaitlyn McGuire), in addition to silver medals within the 200 free relay (McGuire, O’Donoghue, Griffin, Hilty) and the 400 medley relay (Salvatore, Gula, Griffin, O’Donoghue).
 
Behind its championship performances in 9 of the 18 swimming occasions and top-three finishers in 13 races, Salisbury efficiently defended its NJAC title and gained its second straight crown with 1,635 factors, over 600 factors away from the remainder of the sector of 10 groups. SU completed the yr by sending 19 individuals to the NCAA Championships and tying for twenty sixth at nationals with 32 factors by way of its three All-America turns.